Gonzalez continues consistent pitching into regular season with quality start

Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez put together a tremendous quality start (no decision) in a rain-delayed 4-3 10-inning loss to the Marlins Thursday night.

Working with a quick tempo, Gonzalez got ahead of Marlins hitters all day, not allowing a run over six innings. He was able to scatter seven hits, striking out seven and showing tremendous command; his only walk was intentional in the sixth.

Manager Dusty Baker was impressed with how Gonzalez was able to not allow the Marlins to ever complete a rally, even though they left seven men on base - at least one per each of his six innings of work.

The Marlins' best chance against Gonzalez was in the sixth when they earned back-to-back singles to start a rally from Christian Yelich and Giancarlo Stanton. But a 6-4-3 double-play ball off the bat of Marcell Ozuna got Gonzalez back on track. He later struck out Justin Bour to get out of the inning.

"You know how Gio, when he got in trouble, he had the coolness of mind to get out of trouble, especially in that sixth inning," Baker said. "He was in trouble. He threw a very good game for us. Excellent game. Like I said, these guys over there, they've got some guys who can hit over there. He had them off-balance, he mixed his curveball in. He and (Matt) Wieters had a good game plan. His changeup was good. His fastball inside was good. So he threw a very good game. We would have loved to see him get the win."

First baseman Ryan Zimmerman was acutely aware how well Gonzalez was doing at getting ahead in his counts early against the Marlins' lethal lineup.

"I'd say the tempo and pounding the strike zone and finishing guys and finishing the at-bat when he gets 0-2, 1-2 in the next couple pitches," Zimmerman said. "It's easier to say that, but I think he's been a lot more efficient this spring. His first start was great. It's been fun to watch. It's nice to play behind him when he works at that pace and throws strikes."

Gonzalez appeared to pick up where he left off in spring training: Throwing strikes and working quickly, but under control.

"It was great," Gonzalez said. "I was throwing with Matty, it was fantastic. Big strike zone. Great job, knowing hitters, kind of going with the game plan he had. Felt like the one pitch I shook him off was the big contact they made to right field. But then on, we were both on the same page for every pitch. He did a great job behind the dish. Defense was great, guys played their hearts out."

Gonzalez managed to keep himself warm before the game and didn't let the 80-minute rain at the beginning (one of two rain delays on the night) mess up his rhythm once the game started.

"It is one of those focus factors where coming into the game could've been easily distracted with the rain delay and out of my own element and everything," Gonzalez said. "I figured, you know the guys been sitting around, trying to get loose for this game. It's tough. It's difficult. I was just trying to stick with the same game plan.

"As soon as I heard we were going to have a window at 4 p.m., I was already to go by 3 p.m. I was stretched, everything. Sat around, put some hot pack on just to keep warm. Mad Dog (pitching coach Mike Maddux) had a great game plan. We went over the hitters probably a couple times. I just wanted to stay focused and attack the strike zone as soon as possible. With these kind of games you want to get your hitters in there as quick as possible. It's a long game. Took a long time."

Gonzalez also appreciated the opportunity to experiment a bit with different pitches that he wanted to use more. Wieters allowed him to work those pitches in.

"The key is to make sure you find some of the guys holding the gloves out there," Gonzalez said. "That's definitely a big help. Trying to attack the strike zone as much as possible. Working on certain pitches that I wanted to work on in spring. Got it effective today. We were throwing a lot of pitches I wanted to work on. Then again, I had great defense. Bryce (Harper) made a hell of a play in right field with the sun in his eyes. Trea (Turner), Daniel (Murphy), everybody made a great play, even (Anthony) Rendon. All these guys were making double plays to help me out, kept me in the game a little bit longer."